Generator fire torches van, catches on house in Eastpointe
EASTPOINTE, Mich. (FOX 2) - A generator fire caught a van on fire and spread to a house in Eastpointe Tuesday night, and had it not been for a neighbor who sprang into action - damages may have been much worse.
Neighbor Bob Smith grabbed his garden hose and as the fire spread to the house, was able to hold it at bay until firefighters arrived at the scene in the 23000 block of Schroeder, just two blocks north of Nine Mile.
"It was an electrical fire it went from the van, ... possibly a generator wiring overload, and it crept into the house, the roofing and that," Smith said. "I was able to just quickly man the garden hose and keep it under control from spreading any farther.
"I was able to get into the bedroom and spray down the walls and framing."
Smith said the neighborhood has been out of power since noon and added that neighbors have speculated it was a power grid failure.
Storms from Monday have left large swaths of Metro Detroit in the dark as work on restoring power by DTE continues. As of 9 p.m. there were still 232,000-plus customers without power according to the DTE outage map HERE.
Another resident, Hope Nawrocki, called 911 and reported the fire. She said that ammunition went off during the fire - but officials have not confirmed that.
Related: When will power be restored in Southeast Michigan? When DTE expects lights to be back on for most
"My son-in-law came in the house and said there was a fire out there," Nawrocki said. "Next thing you know there was black smoke and you heard pop, pop, pop. I am told it was bullets. It looked like nobody had gotten hurt."
Stay with FOX 2 for more on this story as it becomes available.
